Post by hairbear31 on Jun 13, 2011 23:52:21 GMT -5

Passed 1000 miles today so here's a review of my IB Tornado.

Everything on the bike is stock, I haven't made any mods to the bike "yet".

It's a very comfortable ride, the seat is wide and well padded and the running boards give you plenty of room to place your feet and change foot position when you need to. I'm in a wheelchair and I had plenty of room on the passenger to strap down my chair and still have room for a passenger. There is also a lot of storage, I put 3 bags of groceries and a six pack in the main storage compartment under the seat, as well as a bunch of tools in the small compartment under the seat. it has a good sized glove box large enough to hold my rain suit on one side and a couple bottles of soda on the other, there are also 2 compartments under the handlebars large enough for my cellphone, wallet, and a couple pair of sunglasses. the right one is also where the radiator cap is.

The bike has plenty of acceleration from 0-55mph, 55+ pickup starts to drop off and tops out at about 67mph, I'm getting about 70mpg and it has a 3 gallon tank (I use premium gas and I add the ethanol treatment to it). Reverse is quite touchy and I have to feather the throttle to keep from spinning the tires when backing up. it has a simple R-N-D shifter on the right side. haven't had any problem changing gears and I use reverse a lot since I can't use my legs to push it back.

the bike handles quite well, I can do a U-turn in the road without going of onto the should, at 65mph strong winds and gusts don't bother it at all, it corners well, you don't have to fight the steering to take corners, I have had the inside tire lift enough to spin if I take off to fast. ( taking off from a dead stop it really wants to go and I'm already at 35-40 by time I come out of the turn) leaning into it does stop it from lifting up.The tires seem decent with deep tread and little wear so far. The bike has 3 disc brakes that work well and stopping the bike in a relatively short distance. took me a little getting used to braking with both front and rear breaks without one or the other locking up and skidding.

the rear end had 4 shocks that works pretty good for smoothing out rough roads, they come set at the softest setting, the front forks are kind of on the stiff side and the only wait to adjust them is to change out the springs.

All the lights are bright and the rear brake light sets high and raps around the back end of the seat so is quite visible to other vehicles, the headlights line up nicely for seeing the road at night with high or low beams. it doesn't have a reverse light. the plate light lights up the plate well. there were no holes to bolt the plate on so I had to drill my own. the digital dash is bright and has a large # readout for the MPH, for some reason it doesn't have a trip odometer which would have been nice to have, also the dash is in Kilometers and can't be switched to MPH, then sent me a new dash that's in MPH, but I haven't bothered to put it in yet since I'm already used to Kilometers.

I've had a couple small issues with the bike, the latch on the glove compartment broke off after opening it a couple of times, waiting for the replacement part from IB, the rear fender has developed some stress cracks around a couple of bolts, but nothing to bad, most likely because of some rough dirt roads I've been on. One of the brackets that holds the front right side of the rear fender broke where it bolts to the frame from the looks they made the bends while the metal was cold and it cracked, a friend welded the brake and haven't had an issue with it since, but still getting another from IB.

All and all I'm extremely happy with my Tornado, payed $3995 shipped and it was worth every penny, I bought a small trailer for it and will be putting a hitch on it soon, It's a sharp looking bike and I lost count on how many ppl have stopped to asked about it and where they can get one.

I've only gotten started and plan to put several thousand more miles on it this summer.

Post by mike6736 on Jun 14, 2011 12:17:36 GMT -5

Thats great.......I have only gonne on 187 mile trips so fare, but me and the wife are taking a 3 day trip up to the Gulf Coast soon, about 450 miles up and back.

Top end is about, I alone have gotton 72 mph. When running distance she loves with 2 people 52 - 60mph. just me she runs for hours 62 - 67 mph, after I cleaned CVT out as factor had it packed with grease.....

Scoot on Bud, they are a blast.....Mike

.................HEY...move that hunk of junk out of my why...I gotta park can;t you seee.....

Post by Brooster on Jun 14, 2011 16:49:03 GMT -5

Thanks hairbear, I'm leaning more & more towards a Tornado cause now I'm having some trouble with my left knee. I can't get over how great those trikes look. Now after your review I'm gonna push to take the plunge. ;D

Post by tedp1 on Oct 25, 2011 21:50:41 GMT -5

Just got a Tornado 300cc trike yesterday. Glad to read your review! My problem is I cant get into the seat! this means I can't connect the battery or get the fasteners, manual or mirrors which are suposed to be stored inside. I'm told the seat has an electric switch which is interesting since I can't get at the battery. Ice bear nor seller haven't been much help. Any ideas anyone?

Post by rapidjim on Oct 26, 2011 7:40:06 GMT -5

Just got a Tornado 300cc trike yesterday. Glad to read your review! My problem is I cant get into the seat! this means I can't connect the battery or get the fasteners, manual or mirrors which are suposed to be stored inside. I'm told the seat has an electric switch which is interesting since I can't get at the battery. Ice bear nor seller haven't been much help. Any ideas anyone?

The seat latch is not electric, it is operated off a cable that is attached to the ignition switch. Make sure you are turning the key fully counter clockwise without pushing in on the key. If that doesn't work. Try reaching up under the fairing and pull out on the cable housing.

Post by frenchy on Nov 28, 2011 19:09:28 GMT -5

they are wright. its not electric. it works from the key that pulls 2 cables at the same time. push the key in like you would normally start the bike but turn the key to the left its hard cause your pulling 2 latches at the same time. the problem is that the cables stretch or theyhave more slack on one side than the other. i found out the hard way and had to have the mechanic come out to the house to open mine for 40 bucks. i disconnected both sides and problem solved. now the seat opens easy but the other problem is that i cant lock it but i can live with that. you will probably end up doing the same thing too whenyou put stuff in there and cant open it .whoever designed that idea should be shot.a really bad idea.

Post by rapidjim on Nov 29, 2011 8:53:57 GMT -5

they are wright. its not electric. it works from the key that pulls 2 cables at the same time. push the key in like you would normally start the bike but turn the key to the left its hard cause your pulling 2 latches at the same time. the problem is that the cables stretch or theyhave more slack on one side than the other. i found out the hard way and had to have the mechanic come out to the house to open mine for 40 bucks. i disconnected both sides and problem solved. now the seat opens easy but the other problem is that i cant lock it but i can live with that. you will probably end up doing the same thing too whenyou put stuff in there and cant open it .whoever designed that idea should be shot.a really bad idea.

Actually I think it was a good idea, no different than cable hood latches on a car. Just requires periodic adjustments.

Shoutbox

wereed: or respond to a thread I started three years ago...Jun 1, 2013 10:56:07 GMT -5

marklorenzi: I just bought one of the Fleetwoods. They look like a clone of the Honda XRM's they sell overseas. It is in transit now and I should get it this week. I will try to post my experience here. Call me the guinea pig hahaha.Jun 2, 2013 20:29:11 GMT -5

flyangler: wereed, this forum is read only the new forum is on the banner above. Dan Jun 5, 2013 7:35:29 GMT -5